The Woes and Pleasures We Call Life
by Malevolent Dreamz
Summary: A fanfic of life after Hogwarts for Hermione. Hermione is an Auror who just wants to do her job, live her life and be happy. Is that to much to ask? WARNING: Spoilers.
1. Hermione's new partner

A/N So this is my first fanfic. I'm not aspiring to be a writer or anything I just did it for fun. Review if you want to, if i get good reviews or constructive criticism I will continue the story.

Unfortunately I do not own any of these characters :(

**Chapter 1**

**Prolouge  
**

She downed the whiskey in one gulp and let her body collapse against the door behind her. Her breathing was surprisingly even, considering what she was about to do. Her hands however shook slightly out of both fear and excitement. The consequences of what was about to happen could be life altering, and she didn't know if it would to be good or bad. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down then poured another small glass of whiskey. Deciding she should move before she talked herself out of it, she propped herself up and flattened her hair. The burn of the whiskey still fresh in her throat, she turned around and placed a hand on the door knob, the slightly erratic breathing finally catching up to her.

**Six Months Earlier**

Hermione let the muggle radio play loudly as she rolled over and pulled the pillow over her head, smothering the sound slightly. She wasn't motivated to go to work anymore, not since Ronald was relocated to her office. He had been down the hall in the Deterrence Of Magic/Muggle Interaction Department or, as it was referred to, the DOMMI Department. Hermione s is an Auror and her life has taken a turn for the worse. There has been a surge in reports of young witches and wizards practicing dark magic, on muggles no less, and now Ron was back in the picture, fresh from his Auror training and prior experience in magic and muggle relations. Hermione has been forced to work close with him, something she hadn't done since their first year out of Hogwarts.

Hermione, Harry and Ron had all returned to Hogwarts after Voldemort s downfall to do their seventh year. They all passed with decent marks, Hermione topped the year of course. When they finished Hermione got a job at the ministry working under Kingsley Shacklebolt. It was not her first career choice but since the death of Tonks', Lupin and the others during the great battle, Hermione had had a hole in her heart. Out of respect for Tonks' and to keep her memory of her alive, Hermione decided to be an Auror. She and Harry got jobs at the ministry straight away, as Aurors in training.

Ron's ambition had been the same however, he didn't get the required marks and had to undergo a series of tests and do a number of courses before even being considered. The Ministry told Ron it could take 3 years before he could begin actual Auror training, which is what Harry and Hermione were already doing. Ron and Hermione began fighting after this, having being together for a year they had reached the married couple stage, where every little thing was cause for a fight. They had stayed together though for a year after Hogwarts. Harry and Hermione lived together at Grimauld Place out of convenience for their work and Ron still lived at the Burrow with his parents.  
Their fights grew more frequent, Ron had decided that he and Hermione should move in together and have a baby. He wanted Hermione to put her Auror training on hold for a few years. Hermione began to get fed up with Ron and split up with him, claiming he was holding her back from her career and going nowhere with his own career. After that Ron went into what seemed like a depression. He wouldn't talk to Hermione even though they frequently had dinner together at Grimuald Place and The Burrow. Mrs. Weasley wasn't happy with Hermione splitting up with Ron but had grown to love her as her own daughter so Hermione was invited to dinner as often as Harry. Ron was constantly in his room and rarely seen without a book in front of him, and was rarely talking to anyone.

After merely six months Ron announced he was leaving the burrow and moving to Romania to live with Charlie. Everyone assumed he had abandoned his ambition to become an Auror. He returned however, three years later and began working in the DOMMI Department for what seems like now as a time filler and a pay check. Ron had in fact studied and completed a vast number of tests and courses required, then underwent an intense Auror Training in Romania. He spent six months in the DOMMI while completing his final course to make him a fully fledged Auror at the same level as Harry and Hermione.

Hermione was privately impressed with Ron s accomplishment; she would never admit it though. Ron arrived in Hermione's office smug and was overtly rude to her. Although Ron was at the same level as Hermione, she had been there longer and was still classed as his superior. Hermione chose not to rub in this fact and put up with Ron's rudeness. Although Hermione was well over Ron she still felt slightly guilty having broke up with him how she did. She knew that what she did affected Ron and it hurt Mrs. Weasley that Ron left for so long, so Hermione promised herself she would take whatever punishment he delivered.

Ron had been in Hermione s office for two months now and had not forgiven Hermione in the slightest for breaking his heart. With Harry away on a holiday with Ginny for a whole month and unable to keep Ron in line, Hermione was beginning to feel the pressures of the increasing work load and lack of help from her fellow Auror. Although they were now officially partners, Hermione refused to call him that.


	2. Arriving at work

A/N So, I know i said in my first chapter that I would only continue with my story if I got good reviews or constructive criticism but I already have the first five chapters and my first one didn't seem long enough.

I still don't own these characters :(

**Chapter 2 **

Hermione snapped open her eyes when she heard a sharp tap on her window.

"Shit".

A ministry owl was flapping outside her window with an emerald envelope tied around its leg. She kicked of the blankets and slipped into her slippers as she stepped out of bed. She opened the window and let the owl in, along with a cool breeze that chilled Hermione to the bone. She quickly slammed the window shut and turned to the bird which had nestled into Hermione s own owl. Hermione had been lucky enough to find an Owl that Crookshanks approved of, after only a year of taking her poor cat into a million pet shops. Hermione untied the letter and went back to her warm bed to read it.

Hermione,

You are needed at the office urgently. Kingsley is sending us on assignment. Pack lightly and smartly. So get your hard nipples out of my old shirt and be here in 20.

Ronald.

Hermione cringed at Ron's sexist words then looked down at his old shirt she was wearing. She didn't wear it out of love; she'd had it since they were together and only liked it because it was big and comfy to sleep in. Although she had grown a bit since she had first worn it and it was now just a normal sized shirt on her. Hermione angrily took off the shirt and turned it into dust with her wand. She regretted it immediately after as she stood up, feeling the chill hit her topless body. She dashed into the bathroom and quickly stripped of her pants before turning on the warm water.

Feeling the warm water cover her shoulders and back Hermione's anger at Ron dissipated slightly. Harry had informed Hermione that Ron was still in love with her and just trying to deal with his pain as best he can, even if that meant severely pissing Hermione off. Hermione hoped that Ron would get over her soon so they could go back to being friends. Even though Hermione loved Ron, in his rare moments of kindness toward her, she knew that they wouldn't work as a couple. It took Hermione two years of dating him to figure that out and now she just wanted to go back to being his friend.

Hermione got out of the shower and dried herself with a flick of her wand. She summoned some clothes and started to get dressed, flicking her wand again before she did causing her travel pack to open and numerous items from around the room to neatly fill it. Normally she would do it by hand, but she didn't want to give Ron any reason to note that Hermione had been slipping lately, forgetting things and always running late. Hermione packed two sets of clothes and a set of pyjamas, unsure how long she would be gone for, her basic potion kit, a roll of parchment and a self-inking quill, her dark magic detector and the book she was reading at the moment.  
Before leaving Hermione let out the ministry owl and told her owl to go with it until she returned. The muggle woman next door would feed Crookshanks after noticing Hermione was away. Then she took a small handful of floo powder, stepped into the fire and said ministry of magic. Noting quickly the mess in her bedroom and her unmade bed, Hermione silently cursed Ron for stressing her out.

Hermione stepped out of the fire place at the ministry and quickly dusted herself off before heading to the elevator. Stepping out of the elevator Hermione walked directly into somebody's hard chest before falling to the ground.

"Geez, watch where you are going Granger!"

Hermione frowned openly as she recognized Draco Malfoy's voice. Since Hogwart's Draco had repented and paid multiple times for his mistakes. He made frequent generous contributions to multiple departments when they were running low on money and no longer used the word mudblood. He worked in the Department of Mysteries and was now a well trusted member of the ministry. Malfoy had worked his arse of to get his status, however old habits die hard. Malfoy had a generally neutral attitude toward Harry, Ron and Hermione. When one of them popped up surprisingly however Malfoy had difficulty holding his tongue, similar to tourette syndrome in muggles. Hermione found the similarity slightly amusing.

"Maybe if you didn't stand right in front of opening doors no one would run into you!" Hermione snapped back.

"Oh I m sorry forgive me for waiting to get on an elevator," Draco sneered before he regained his manners "Here you go." he said picking up Hermione's dropped travel pack and handing it to her.

"Thanks" Hermione replied suspiciously, her eyes squinting slightly and her head cocking to the side, as if trying to see Malfoy's ulterior motive. This caused Malfoy to chuckle casually, shaking his head softly.

Hermione turned to leave before Malfoy stopped her.

"Ah Granger," he said pointedly.

She turned back around to face him her eyebrows raised as if to say "What now?!"

He reached toward her and Hermione felt him flatten her fringe on one side, pushing a strand of hair behind her left ear. "Your hair was sticking up." He said with a slight smile on his face before entering the elevator as it closed behind him.

Hermione was dumbfounded. Not only had Draco Malfoy spoken to her politely, he had stopped her looking like an idiot, and, this was the bit that surprised Hermione the most, he had touched her. Unable to ever say her first name, disgusted by the thought of her, he had actually touched her. Hermione shuddered inwardly at the thought of liking Malfoy before turning down the hall toward her office.


	3. Going on assignment

**Chapter 3**

Hermione stepped into her office and immediately noticed someone at her desk.

"GINNY!" She squealed, recognizing her best friend despite her hair being cut to just above her shoulders, and dyed. It was now a reddish brown instead of flaming orange. Hermione found it flattered Ginny's eyes. Ginny squealed back and ran up to Hermione, almost knocking her off her feet as she slammed into her outstretched arms.

"What are you doing back already? What have you done to your hair? Where's Harry? You look great!" Hermione finished into Ginny's shoulder, as the former red head almost squeezed the life out of her.  
Ginny giggled then pulled away, resting her hands on Hermione's shoulders.

"Well obviously Hermione," She started seriously "I cut and dyed my hair." She broke out in a smile and giggled losing all her seriousness. "And I am back early because Ron sent us an Owl yesterday telling us you are going on assignment for two weeks and I wanted to see you before you left obviously, it has been three weeks!" She pulled Hermione into a quick hug again before sitting down in the chair turning serious again. "And as for Harry, he is with Ron, but," She paused considering her words for a moment "We broke up." she finished.

"Oh but Ginny.." Hermione started before Ginny broke her off.

"It's okay Hermione," she giggled "we both agreed that we have changed a lot since Hogwarts, and we love each other but we aren't in love with each other."

"Oh." Hermione looked slightly stunned, she never figured Harry and Ginny would break up, ever, but she was glad that it wasn't messy. Then she frowned "Hang on," she said suddenly "you said Ron sent you an owl last night! That Git! He only sent me one this morning, and gave me 20 minutes to get ready! Ooh I hate him!"

Hermione slammed the desk with her fist immediately wishing she hadn't. Ginny just giggled and pulled her into another hug.

Just then Harry and Ron walked into the office, Ron's grin faltering slightly when he saw the look of anger on Hermione's face. "Shit!" he muttered before Hermione escaped from Ginny's grasp.

"Ronald Weasley, you are an absolute git! I have had enough of your shit, start acting like a grown up for fuck sake!" Hermione stormed off to Kingsley's office before Ron could get in a word.

"Ah, Hermione. Good morning, I trust Ron has told you, you will be leaving on assignment today for two weeks together." Kingsley greeted Hermione with a warm smile that she could help but return.

"He's only just told me sir." Hermione sighed.

"It won't be that bad Hermione," he said reassuringly "you will be trailing a group of young witches and wizards, close to your own age, reported using dark magic across the country. You will trail them for two weeks finding out who they are in contact with; if possible you will prevent any potential victims getting hurt. Do not make your presence known! After two weeks arrest them all. It will be dangerous, I expect you and Ronald to work together, hopefully by the time you get back, you will have a solid working relationship." he smiled triumphantly at that, then added "You leave in two hours, that will be all."

Hermione had to resist the urge to kick him in the knee. "Yes sir" she smiled politely before quickly leaving his office. She almost burst into tears out of anger. Almost.

She found Ginny still sitting at her desk, leaning back on her chair with her feet on Hermione's latest stack of cases. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be falling asleep.

"Ginny," Hermione startled her.

"Oh, shit! Hermione, I was just, umm, sorry 'bout puttin' my feet on your papers" She finished lamely. Hermione giggled at how flustered the younger girl was getting. Hermione only meant to wake her so she could talk, besides she felt like throwing all her cases in the fire.

"It s okay, Ginny, I'm not as uptight as I used to be."

Ginny lifted her feet and made to stand up. Instead falling backward off the chair into what looked to be an extremely painful position. Hermione giggled again and held out a hand to pull Ginny up.

"Very funny!" Ginny said sarcastically as she let Hermione pull her into a standing position. "So when are you leaving?"

"Two hours." Hermione said sadly.

"Oh, it will be okay Hermione. When you get back we will go out, get drunk and find ourselves some sexy men to drown our sorrows in!" Ginny smiled cheerfully. "For now though," she added "I have to go, I already told Luna she doesn't need to cover my shifts anymore at St. Mungos, so I have to go to work."

Ginny pulled Hermione into a tight hug and kissed her swiftly on the cheek. "See you when you get back." Hermione gave her a small smile before she turned and left.

Hermione soon followed suit and went home to pack more clothes, by hand this time. After drinking several glasses of firewhiskhey, Hermione placed the rest of the bottle into her travel pack before shrinking it to wallet size. She put the miniature pack in the pocket of her jeans then stepped into the fire to meet Ron at the ministry.


	4. Let's be friends

**Chapter 4**

Ron and Hermione had apparated from the ministry and then travelled in silence on foot until they reached a dingy pub in a small muggle town where the subjects were said to frequently ordered two beers before sitting down at a table in the corner that had a view of the whole pub. He gave Hermione one of the beers before turning his head to stare at the muggle TV.

Hermione assumed that Ron had never been in a muggle pub before. He looked at everything with rapt excitement but didn t ask Hermione what anything was. He took a long swig of the beer and forced himself to swallow, his eyes watering. Hermione guessed that he had only heard of beer but never tasted it. She suppressed a giggle and took a swig of her own beer, feeling the cool calm slide down her throat.

Hermione felt stiff next to Ron. She had to try act casual with Ron, like they were just two friends having a drink together. She turned to say something and was pleased to see Ron was stare was fixed on the muggle sport football that was playing on the TV because she didn't actually have anything to say. Instead she took another swig of her beer and leant back to watch the game with Ron when a group of 18 - 20 something s strolled in casually, ordered their drinks then sat at a table in the middle of the room.

Hermione recognised one instantly and pug faced Pansy Parkinson's younger sister Mixie. She watched them closely thankful of their close proximity to the TV set. She could tell that they had caught Ron's full attention as well. He had sat abruptly straight when they entered although it looked like he was still staring at the TV.

They had used the impirius curse on the bartender and made him announce a free round for the whole bar but since it didn't place the man in harm, Hermione had to resist the urge to use the stunning curse on the whole lot of them. The bartender shook his head as if waking up from a dream and looked down at himself to see if his body was still there, thinking he had just had some sort of out of body experience. The group didn't use anymore magic for the rest of the night but Hermione knew they had found the group they were looking for.

Hermione and Ron listened to the group for the rest of the night. Hermione finished her beer then drank no more. Ron's beer, she noticed, stayed untouched. It seemed that the group was situated somewhere nearby so Ron and Hermione decided to set up a camp nearby. They found an abandoned house and set up their tent in the back yard placing protective spells around it so only they could see it and no one could hear them while they were there.

Their tent of course had an illusion charm already placed on it to look smaller on the outside than the inside but was however only the size of a caravan and in Hermione's opinion made Ron to close for comfort.

The next week Ron and Hermione took numerous polyjuice potions and followed different members on the group which named themselves Liberators of Magical Knowledge. Their aim was to expose the nature of magic to muggles and identify themselves as the authorities in the magical world. They used fear to rally muggle supporters, showing regular demonstrations of unforgivable curses on animals. Ron and Hermione could see the implications of the Muggle world rallying behind the LMK.

The real ministry couldn't execute the entire muggle population for not complying with their orders if they believed they weren t the highest power. They knew they couldn t just arrest them all there in front of the muggles because they had to know how big the LMK were and how powerful they could potentially be.

Of a night Ron and Hermione would sit in silence, documenting all their evidence only speaking to clarify the proper order of an event. When she finished Hermione would have a glass of firewhiskey then go to bed, Leaving Ron to finish his own work alone.

This particular night however, Hermione couldn't sleep so she got up and sat in her armchair facing Ron, pouring herself another glass of firewhiskey. She had a feeling she was starting to build up an immune system to it.

Hermione stared blankly at the small coffee table between her and Ron, while finished rolling up his parchments. When he finished he grew still, causing Hermione to look up and see him staring at her a small frown on his face, as if he was thinking hard about something. Hermione looked away and finished her glass of firewhiskey before pouring another one, then began playing with a loose thread in her arm chair.

"I'm over you, you know." Ron blurted out suddenly, causing Hermione to look up in surprise.

"Oh," said Hermione "Well that s good then." she continued simply.

"It took me a while, but I got over it, and I forgave you." He added "If you forgave me then why have you been such a prat? Why are you always so rude?" Hermione said shaking her head.

"Cause you never said sorry!" Ron looked into his lap with a guilty look on his face then continued "but I know that s a stupid reason," He said glumly "but I can see that I have been making your life harder, especially with our massive workload, and I'm sorry." He finished glumly.

"Soo.." Hermione started

"Soo, I was hoping we could be friends again, like before." Ron said matter of factly.

"Oh Ron," Hermione said cheerfully "That would be wonderful."

Ron stood up and pulled Hermione out of her chair into a rough hug and Hermione fell into his arms feeling his warm body relax against her. They stayed there for a few moments before Ron pulled away and sat back down in his chair.

"So," He said "Tell me what you have done with yourself in the past four years?"  
Hermione sat back down in her chair and poured them both a drink before she started talking. Conversation came naturally, as if they had never stopped being friends.


	5. Or let's be more than friends

**Chapter 5  
**

Rons POV  
Ron woke up in the morning with his head throbbing and a sick feeling in his throat. Hermione lay on his chest snoring softly.

Yeah, so he had lied.

He wasn't over Hermione, but he had to do something. The tension between them was killing him and Hermione was developing a drinking problem. He hadn't planned on sleeping with Hermione but they had talked for hours and Hermione kept pouring more drinks.

Before he knew it they were making out in his arm chair. He tried to remember the exact details but his memory was fuzzy, he wondered how many drinks he's had. Suddenly, Hermione rubbed a hand down his bare chest and he realised he didn't care. Soon after he fell back to sleep, snoring loudly.

**The Night Before**

Hermiones POV  
She and Ron had talked for hours. She listened to him chuckle softly and remembered it was something she used to miss. She noticed every time he raised his glass to his lips and was reminded of when she used to plant kisses in the corner of his mouth to tease him.

He leant forward as he told her about the resistance of death eaters in Romania. She leant forward to as his voice had gotten low. He told her the intense training he had undergone involving the death eaters.

Hermione gasped "They actually made you duel?" she whispered.

He nodded then stood up and showed her the scar on his shoulder where he had been stunned and fallen onto a broken gravestone. He had been pierced directly through his shoulder and didn t have proper medical attention on hand so it never healed properly.

Hermione stood to and touched it gently, feeling his muscle tense when she did.

"It has barely healed," he said "It still hurt sometimes, especially when it s cold."

Hermione could feel his warm breath on her face, it smelled sweetly of firewhiskey. Not realising what she was doing, Hermione pressed her lips to his scar then lifted his shirt and removed it, checking his body for more scars.

Hermione ran her fingers over Ron's body, She knew she wanted him then; she hadn't had sex in too long and could feel months and months of sexual repression longing to come out.

She ran her hands down Ron's arms, her fingers only made it halfway around his muscles. She never remembered Ron to be so bulk, she realised it must have been part of his Auror training. Hermione herself now had slightly toned muscles when she flexed her arms. She ran her hand over his chest and found a zigzag scar below his right nipple.

She kissed it lightly then began moving her hands again. The next scar she found was just above his pant line.

She knelt down and kissed it, noticing his prominent V. She stood back up and was met by Ron crashing his lips onto hers with a gentle force. She pushed him back onto the lounge and straddled him, one hand cupped behind his neck the other pressed firmly on his toned chest.

He slid his hands down her sides to her hips and pulled her closer to his body. She felt his hard penis rubbing through her pants causing her to moan and pull him into a deeper kiss.

They broke apart for a moment as he pulled her pyjama top over her head then began massaging her breasts. She moaned again and he stopped and grabbed her behind firmly and lifted her.

He carried her to his bed kissing her neck all the way and laid her down slowly. She pulled his face up to hers and began kissing him again while her hands reached down and began to undo his pants.

His hands reached down to her waist and rested there for a moment. Then in one fluid movement he lifted her and removed her pants as his own dropped.

He climbed back on top of her, now completely naked body and began kissing her neck again. She could feel his tongue forming small circles with every kiss. She moaned and bucked her hips, feeling his hard penis again through his boxers.

He ran one hand down her body and began massaging her breast. He lifted his mouth to hers again and this time Hermione bit his bottom lip lightly before licking it then kissing him. He let out a small grunt of pleasure before moving his hand from her breast and rubbing down her body.

He paused at her clitoris, rubbing it sensually causing Hermione to bite down on his lip again. She moved her lips to his neck and began kissing and sucking. Her fingernails clawed into Rons back as he gently pushed one finger inside her and began to pump. Soon after he inserted another finger causing Hermione to let out a loud moan and start rocking in tandem with his fingers. He moved his lips to Hermiones neck and kissed her again as Hermione's fingers gripped his back.

Finally regaining a sense of control, Hermione reached down and tried to remove Ron's boxer shorts. He lifted his body slightly of hers and they came off with ease. Before Hermione could do anything else Ron removed his fingers and guided himself into her.

She let out a small gasp of pain. She was so tight right now. She could tell Ron noticed to because his body went stiff and he let out a grunt of immense pleasure. He then began to slowly pump in and out of her, the pain quickly disappearing. As Hermiones moans grew increasingly louder Ron began to pump faster, until they were both bucking and grunting and moaning.

Hermione clawed into Rons back leaving long scratch marks as she felt her body begin shaking uncontrollably. She let out a long moan and then laid back as she felt Ron fill her with his load at the same time. He gave a few more pumps then pulled out of her. Her body still twitching slightly from her orgasm, she rolled over and laid her head on his arm, which he curled around her, and they both fell asleep.

Hermione started when she registered Ron's firm body beneath her face. She sat up and immediately remembered everything that had happened the night before in explicit detail.


End file.
